G rower Profile

Food From God Farm

By Annakate Tefft

Driving down Banks Pisgah Road in Smithville, Tennessee on a cold and
dreary February day, you might be surprised to see tomatoes already in
the ground anywhere nearby. But this is what you would find at Food
From God Farm. It's no miracle; it's just one of the innovative and
exciting ideas Lori Wright and her family members are implementing on
their five-acre farm.

"Our goal is get as many healthful fruits and vegetables into people
as possible, not preservatives,"

Wright, her father (who hails from Kentucky), six of her siblings
(there are ten in all), and their families found their little slice of
heaven outside of Smithville two years ago, when they decided to move
from Arizona to the South to get back to their roots.

"We knew we'd finally found the right place to farm when we heard the
name of the road it was on," says forty-two-year-old Wright, one of
just three girls in the large family. In the Bible, Moses saw the
Promised Land for the first time from Mount Pisgah. And that rang true
to Wright, considering that the first plot of land the family
purchased in Tennessee was so stone-filled the family jokingly called
it their "rock farm."

During their first season they primarily grew strawberries to sell at
the Smithville Farmers' Market. Because of the abundance of fruit the
plants produced, they're opening as a Pick Your Own operation this
year. "Fifteen thousand strawberry plants produce a lot of
strawberries," Wright says, laughing. "It was many more than our
family could pick by hand for the farm stand."

This year they're also planning to sell tomatoes, and eventually
blueberries and raspberries. Using a unique system Wright's father
co-engineered with some Amish friends, the Wrights' tomatoes, planted
in winter, are protected from the cold with pipes flowing with warm
water buried around the roots of the plants. The water is heated by a
wood stove. "Through this growing system and the help of hoop houses,
eventually we hope to have tomatoes and strawberries year round,"
Wright said.

With a family of seventeen people all living under one roof for now,
everyone has a role to play on the farm. "My father directs things,
but we all have our strengths," says Wright. Hers lies in the baked
goods she whips up every morning, both for the family as well as for
sale. Purchasing their grains from Amish organic producers in Montana,
Wright and her sisters use a stone mill to grind the grains into flour
every morning. They use these whole grains, along with wholesome,
unprocessed ingredients such as seeds, nuts, coconut oil, raw sugar,
and honey. They also utilize the fresh produce from the farm they put
up last summer.

"Our goal is get as many healthful fruits and vegetables into people
as possible, not preservatives," she says. For example, Wright will
use the juice of a freshly pressed carrot in place of water to moisten
bread dough. She'll also use the flour from ground dried beans like
pinto, black, and Great Northern to add protein to their breads and
cookies. These are also key ingredients in their best-selling protein
bar. "People love our baked goods," Wright says. "Although I'll try
not to tell them all that's in it before they taste it. Most people
have never had bean flour, and I don't want to jade them."

When asked if she ever thinks about how simple and seemingly idyllic
her lifestyle may seem to others, Lori Wright says, "I like things to
be simple, and it's really nice to work alongside your family. We lead
a simple life and we just try to help people get simple whole foods
into their bodies. And that works for us right now."

Produce and baked goods from Food From God Farm can be found at the
Smithville Farmers' Market, and at a farm stand at the corner of
College and Bryant streets in Smithville (by the Courthouse) Monday
through Friday.